Dr. Jennifer Hill and colleagues have a new publication in the journal AJE Advances: Research in Epidemiology which investigates how specific language used to connect results to conclusions influences how readers perceive research findings.
Through a study of how different "linking terms" (such as “affects”, “increases”, “predicts”, “increased with”, and “correlated with”) and the surrounding research context affect reader perception, the authors demonstrate that the choice of terminology shifts the interpretation of findings, even when the underlying data remain the same. The researchers argue that because readers often assign causal weight to non-causal language based on context, scientists must be more deliberate and transparent in their phrasing to prevent the unintentional communication of causal claims. Ultimately, the paper urges the importance of improving the clarity and accuracy of scientific communication in published research papers and encourages future research on the subject.